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P33s 


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the 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 

GIFT  OF 
COMMODORE  BYRON  MCCANDLESS 


The 

STANDARDS 
FLAGS  and  BANNERS 


OF  THE 


Pennsylvania  Society 
of  Sons  of  the  Revolution 


PUBLISHED  BY  THE  SOCIETY 


PHILADELPHIA 
1913 


PRESS    OF 

PATTERSON  a  WHITE  Co. 

PHILADELPHIA 


INDEX 

PAOB 

1.  Standard  of  the  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution  ....  7 

2.  United  States  National  Standard 9 

3.  Flag  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania 13 

4.  First  National  Flag  of  the  United  States  15 

5.  Continental  or  Grand  Union  Flag 17 

6.  Flag  of  the  Floating  Batteries 19 

7.  Crescent  Flag  of  Fort  Sullivan,  S.  C 21 

8.  Rattlesnake  Flag 23 

9.  Flag  of  the  Continental  Navy 25 

10.  Naval  Privateer  Flag 27 

11.  Flag  of  the  First  Pennsylvania  Regiment  29 

12.  Flag  of  the   Hanover  Associators,   Lancaster   County, 

Penna 31 

13.  Flag    of    the    Independent    Battalion,    Westmoreland 

County,  Penna 33 

14.  Royal  (or  Bourbon)  Flag  of  France 35 

15.  Count  Pulaski's  Banner 37 

16.  Flag  of  the  Commander  in  Chief's  Guard 39 

17.  Banner  of  the  Washington  Arms 41 

18.  Standard  of  the  First  Troop,  Philadelphia  City  Cavalry 

(Philadelphia  Troop  of  Light  Horse)   43 


HE  Pennsylvania  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution 
possesses  a  collection  of  flags  and  banners  that  are 
accurate  reproductions  of  the  originals  most  promi- 
nently identified  with  the  Revolutionary  War,  and 
used  by  the  forces  on  land  and  sea. 
These  copies  were  made  from  time  to  time,  as  the  result  of 
careful  historical  investigations  by  the  different  committees  ap- 
pointed by  the  Society,  and  they  are  now  entrusted  to  the  care 
of  the  Color  Guard,  by  whom  they  are  carried  in  the  Society's 
various  processions  and  celebrations. 

The  collection  is  at  present  an  extremely  valuable  one,  and 
an  endeavor  is  made  to  add  to  it  as  opportunity  offers. 

The  Committee  appointed  to  prepare  this  book  has  tried, 
in  the  pages  that  follow,  to  give  an  illustration,  in  colors,  of  each 
flag,  together  with  a  brief  history  of  its  origin  and  the  circum- 
stances under  which  it  was  used. 

The  Committee  has  made  free  use  of  the  text  of  the  Flag 
Book  issued  in  1903,  and  compiled  for  the  most  part  by  Cap- 
tain Henry  Hobart  Bellas,  U.  S.  A.  Many  corrections  and  alter- 
ations have  been  found  necessary  and  in  some  cases  the  entire 
rewriting  of  the  descriptive  matter,  based  upon  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  the  most  reliable  authorities. 


STANDARD 


THE  SOCIETY  OF  SONS  OF  THE  REVOLUTION 

ADOPTED     18<1 


The 

STANDARDS 
FLAGS  and  BANNERS 

OF  THE 

.    Pennsylvania  Society 
of  Sons  of  the  Revolution 


1.  The  Standard 
of  the  Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution 

The  Society's  flag,  which  was  adopted  by  the  Pennsylvania 
Society  of  Sons  of  the  Revolution  on  March  9,  1891,  from  a 
design,  furnished  by  one  of  its  members,  Mr.  George  Cuthbert 
Gillespie,  was  also  accepted  by  the  General  Society  on  April  4, 
of  the  same  year,  as  the  authorized  standard  of  the  entire  So- 
ciety. This  flag  consists  of  two  vertical  buff  stripes,  of  equal 
width,  with  a  broad  dark  blue  stripe  between,  the  latter  bearing 
the  insignium  of  the  Society  in  gold.* 

The  flag  is  made  of  both  silk  and  bunting,  for  the  use  of 
the  Society  in  its  meetings  and  celebrations. 


*  The  Society's  badge,  or  insignium,  may  be  described  briefly  as  fol- 
lows :  An  oval  medallion  of  gold,  bearing  in  relief  a  Continental  soldier 
in  the  field,  with  the  figures  1775  below;  the  medallion  surrounded  by  a 
rim  of  dark-blue  enamel  with  escalloped  edges  of  gold  and  bearing  there- 
on thirteen  gold  stars  of  five  points  each ;  the  whole  surmounted  by  an 
eagle  rising  and  with  wings  displayed,  in  gold. 


UNITED  STATES   NATIONAL  STANDARD 


2.  The  Present  United  States  National  Standard 

By  reference  to  the  recent  official  report  of  the  United  States 
War  Department  on  the  origin  of  the  national  flag,  it  is  stated 
therein  that  "the  American  Congress  in  session  at  Philadelphia, 
Penna.,  by  its  resolution  of  June  14,  1777,  established  a  national 
flag  for  the  United  States  of  America." 

The  resolution  was  as  follows : 

"Resolved,  That  the  flag  of  the  thirteen  United  States  be 
thirteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white;  that  the  union  be  thir- 
teen stars,  white  in  a  blue  field,  representing  a  new  constellation." 

Although  nearly  a  year  previous  (July  4,  1776)  these  thir- 
teen United  States  had  been  declared  independent,  this  resolu- 
tion is  the  first  legislative  action  recorded  relating  to  a  national 
flag  for  the  new  sovereignty. 

The  use  of  the  thirteen  stripes  was  not  a  new  feature,  as 
they  had  been  already  introduced  (in  alternate  blue  and  white) 
in  a  standard  of  the  Philadelphia  Light  Horse  Troop,  in  the 
early  part  of  1775,  and  the  same  colors  and  form  were  after- 
wards (in  1783)  adopted  by  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  for 
its  banner. 

It  has  been  suggested  by  a  recent  writer*  on  the  subject  that 
the  use  of  stripes  was  derived  from  the  Dutch  Republic;  the  flag 
of  the  United  Netherlands  being  composed  of  seven  stripes,  each 
representing  a  State. 

The  union  flag  of  the  thirteen  united  colonies  moreover, 
raised  at  General  Washington's  headquarters  at  Cambridge, 
Mass.,  on  January  2,  1776,  had,  as  will  be  shown  further  on  in 
a  description  of  that  flag,  also  the  thirteen  stripes  just  as  they 
are  to-day.  There  is  no  satisfactory  evidence,  however,  that 
any  flag  bearing  the  union  of  the  stars  had  been  in  public  use 
before  the  resolution  of  Congress  of  June,  1777. 


*Dr.  William  Elliot  Griffis. 


10 

Conclusive  testimony  concerning  the  origin  and  evolution  of 
the  stars  and  stripes  does  not  exist.*  The  credit  of  making  the 
first  flag  is  generally  given  to  a  Mrs.  Betsy  Ross,  wife  of  John 
Ross,  an  upholsterer  on  Arch  Street,  below  Third,  Philadelphia, 
with  which  historic  legend  all  Americans  are  familiar. 

Although  the  resolution  establishing  the  flag  was  not  offi- 
cially promulgated  by  the  Secretary  of  Congress  until  Septem- 
ber 3,  1777,  it  seems  well  established  that  the  stars  and  stripes 
were  carried  at  the  battle  of  the  Brandy  wine,  September  n, 
1777,  and  most  probably  also,  as  is  claimed,  at  the  affair  at 
Cooch's  Bridge  in  Delaware,  eight  days  before,  and  thencefor- 
ward during  all  the  battles  of  the  Revolution. 

Soon  after  its  adoption,  the  new  flag  was  hoisted  likewise 
on  the  naval  vessels  of  the  new  United  States.  The  ship  "Ran- 
ger," bearing  the  stars  and  stripes  and  commanded  by  Captain 
John  Paul  Jones,  arrived  at  a  French  port  about  December  i, 
1777,  and  her  flag  there  received  (on  February  14,  1778)  the 
first  salute  ever  paid  to  the  American  flag  by  foreign  naval 
vessels. 

By  reference  again  to  the  preceding  quoted  report  of  the 
War  Department,  we  find  the  flag  of  the  United  States  remained 
virtually  unchanged  for  about  eighteen  years  after  its  adoption. 
By  this  time  two  more  States  (Vermont  and  Kentucky)  had 
been  admitted  into  the  Union  and  on  January  13,  1794,  Con- 
gress enacted: 

"That  from  and  after  the  first  day  of  May,  1795,  the  flag  of 
the  United  States  be  fifteen  stripes,  alternate  red  and  white ;  that 
the  union  be  fifteen  stars,  white  in  a  blue  field." 

This  flag  was  the  national  banner  from  1795  to  1818,  dur- 
ing which  period  occurred  the  war  of  1812  with  Great  Britain — 
our  second  war  for  independence  as  it  has  been  justly  styled — 
when  there  were  eighteen  States  engaged  in  united  defence  of 
our  country. 


*  The  popular  and  generally  accepted  statement  that  the  design  of 
the  flag  is  an  intentional  copy  of  the  arms  of  the  Washington  family,  is 
regarded  by  the  best  authorities  as  erroneous. 


II 

By  1818  five  additional  States  (Tennessee,  Ohio,  Louisiana, 
Indiana  and  Mississippi)  had  been  admitted  into  the  Union,  and 
consequently  a  further  change  in  the  flag  seemed  now  to  be  re- 
quired. 

The  Committee  of  Naval  Affairs  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives requested  the  naval  hero,  Captain  Samuel  Chester 
Reid,  of  New  York,  who  was  then  in  the  City  of  Washington, 
to  make  a  permanent  design  for  the  flag.*  He  presented  accord- 
ingly two  forms  for  the  same,  both  bearing  thirteen  stripes,  but 
one  with  the  stars  formed  into  one  great  star  in  the  union,  sym- 
bolizing the  motto  "E  pluribus  unum,"  for  our  vessels  in  the 
merchant  service;  the  other  with  the  stars  in  parallel  rows  for 
the  halls  of  Congress  and  the  other  public  buildings,  as  well  as 
for  our  ships  of  war.  Congress  approved  of  these  designs  finally, 
and  after  considerable  discussion  on  the  subject,  the  Act  of  April 
4,  1818,  was  passed,  which  provided : 

1st.  "That  from  and  after  the  fourth  day  of  July  next, 
the  flag  of  the  United  States  be  thirteen  horizontal  stripes,  alter- 
nate red  and  white;  that  the  union  have  twenty  stars,  white  in 
a  blue  field." 

2d.  "That  on  the  admission  of  every  new  State  into  the 
Union,  one  star  be  added  to  the  union  of  the  flag  and  that  such 
addition  shall  take  effect  on  the  fourth  of  July  next  succeeding 
such  admission." 

The  first  flag  of  this  last  adopted  design  was  made  by  the 
wife  of  Captain  Reid,  assisted  by  other  ladies,  in  New  York  City, 
and  was  first  hoisted  on  the  national  Capitol  building,  April  13, 
1818. 

The  present  authorized  arrangement  of  the  stars  in  the 
union  was  finally  settled  by  an  order  of  the  President  (Monroe) 
through  the  Navy  Board,  dated  September  15,  1818. 


*  Captain  Reid,  in  the  War  of  1812-14,  had  commanded  the  American 
brig,  "General  Armstrong,"  in  the  naval  fight  against  three  British  war 
vessels  in  the  harbor  of  Fayal,  in  the  Azores,  September  26  and  27,  1814, 
virtually  winning  there  a  signal  victory  (though  he  lost  his  own  vessel), 
by  the  disabling  of  the  enemy's  squadron,  which  was  part  of  the  expedi- 
tion against  New  Orleans,  and  so  delaying  Admiral  Cochrane's  fleet  at 
Jamaica,  that  Louisiana  was  saved  from  British  conquest,  and  General 
Jackson  was  enabled  to  gain  his  victory  at  New  Orleans  before  the  arrival 
of  the  enemy's  strong  reinforcements. 


12 

The  return  of  the  original  thirteen  stripes  of  the  flag  of  1777 
was  due,  in  a  great  measure,  no  doubt,  to  a  reverence  for  the 
flag  of  the  Revolution,  but  it  was  also  due  to  the  fact  that  a  fur- 
ther increase  of  the  number  of  stripes  would  have  made  the  width 
of  the  flag  out  of  proportion  to  its  length,  unless  the  stripes  were 
narrowed,  and  this  would  have  impaired  their  distinctness  when 
seen  from  a  distance. 

No  act  has  since  been  passed  by  Congress  altering  this  fea- 
ture of  the  flag — the  thirteen  stripes  representing  the  number  of 
States  that  originally  effected  American  independence,  and  the 
additional  stars  marking  the  newly-admitted  States  since  then — 
and  it  is  the  same  as  first  adopted,  except  as  to  the  changes  in 
the  number  of  stars  in  the  union,  which  have  not,  however,  been 
always  arranged,  until  recently,  in  both  horizontal  and  vertical 
parallel  rows. 

In  the  war  with  Mexico  the  national  standard  bore  twenty- 
nine  stars;  during  the  late  Civil  War  thirty-five,  and  since  July 
4,  1876,  when  there  were  thirty-seven,  the  number  has  increased 
to  forty-eight  at  the  present  time. 

What  additional  number  of  stars  will  be  added  in  the  far- 
reaching  future,  with  our  constantly  increasing  territories  and 
possessions  changed  into  possible  Statehood,  is  a  question  none 
can  definitely  answer  to-day. 

The  lines  written  by  one  of  our  country's  best  and  most 
patriotic  poets,  Joseph  Rodman  Drake,  may,  however,  be  fit- 
tingly applied  to  this  "Star-Spangled  Banner,"  immortalized  by 
Francis  Scott  Key,  and  which  is  also  popularly  designated  to-day 
as  "Old  Glory": 

"Flag  of  the  free  hearts'  only  home, 

By  angel  hands  to  valor  given ; 
Thy  stars  have  lit  the  welkin  dome, 

And  all  thy  hues  were  born  in  Heaven !" 

The   facsimile   of   this    Standard   was   presented   to   the    Society   by 
Horace  Magee,  Esq. 


FLAG    OF    THE    COMMONWEALTH    OF    PENNSYLVANIA 


3.   The  Flag  of  the  Commonwealth  of  Pennsylvania 

The  early  seals  of  the  Province  of  Pennsylvania,  prior  to 
the  Revolutionary  War,  consisted  of  the  coat  of  arms  of  Wil- 
liam Penn,  surrounded  by  an  appropriate  inscription.  The  change 
from  the  Provincial  to  the  State  seal  dates  from  the  year  of  In- 
dependence, 1776.  On  the  28th  of  September,  of  that  year,  the 
Constitutional  Convention  appointed  Messrs.  Rittenhouse,  Jacobs 
and  Clymer  "a  Committee  to  prepare  the  seals  for  future  legis- 
lature and  executive  council  of  the  State."  Their  report  does 
not  appear  on  record, — but  shortly  after  the  seal  is  found  on 
State  papers  of  the  form  which  remained  in  use  for  the  ensuing 
thirty-two  years. 

The  seals  of  the  early  Pennsylvania  Counties  were  formed 
by  mounting  a  distinguishing  crest  upon  the  shield  of  the  Penn 
coat  of  arms.  The  crest  of  Chester  County  was  a  plough,  that 
of  Philadelphia  County  a  ship  under  full  sail,  and  the  crest  of 
Sussex  County  in  Delaware,  a  sheaf  of  wheat.  The  latter  de- 
vice also  appeared  in  one  of  the  quarter  ings  of  the  seal  of  the 
City  of  Philadelphia.  The  crest  of  Bucks  County  was  a  fig  tree, 
and  not  a  wheat-sheaf,  as  has  been  incorrectly  supposed.* 

These  three  devices  being  combined,  the  first  seal  of  the 
State  consisted  of  a  circle  having  a  band  across  the  middle  bear- 
ing a  plough,  with  a  ship  under  full  sail  in  the  upper  segment, 
and  three  sheaves  of  wheat  in  the  lower,  the  whole  surrounded 
by  the  inscription,  "Seal  of  the  State  of  Pennsylvania."  In  1809, 
when  the  matrix  of  the  great  seal  had  become  worn,  a  new  die 
was  made,  elaborated  by  the  addition  of  an  eagle  as  a  crest,  a 
stalk  of  Indian  corn  on  the  left  of  the  shield  and  an  olive  branch 
on  the  right. 

In  1777  the  coat  of  arms  of  the  State  was  engraved  by  one 
Caleb  Lownes,  of  Philadelphia,  and  consisted  of  a  shield  upon 
which  the  ship,  plough  and  sheaves  were  emblazoned;  second, 


*  See  "The  Seal  and  Arms  of  Pennsylvania,"  by  James  Evelyn  Pil- 
cher,  L.H.D.,  and  "Pennsylvania  Archives,"  3d  series,  vol.  xiii,  frontispiece. 


14 

a  crest,  consisting  of  an  eagle  with  outstretched  wings;  third, 
supporters,  consisting  of  two  black  horses  harnessed  for  draw- 
ing a  vehicle,  one  upon  each  side  of  the  shield,  and  behind  each 
of  them  a  stalk  of  corn;  fourth,  a  cornstalk  and  olive  branch 
crossed  below  the  shield,  and  fifth,  the  motto:  "Virtue,  Liberty 
and  Independence,"  upon  a  ribbon  below  the  other  elements. 

This  coat  of  arms  underwent  many  vicissitudes  of  elabora- 
tion and  curtailment  until,  in  1874,  the  General  Assembly  ap- 
pointed a  commission  "to  correct  the  Coat  of  Arms  of  the  Com- 
monwealth" and  "to  have  the  same  recorded  in  the  State  Ar- 
chives." 

In  1875  this  Commission  reported  that  they  had  adopted  the 
Arms  as  represented  by  Caleb  Lownes  in  1778,  which  represented 
the  veritable  arms  of  the  State.  These  arms  may  be  described 
technically  as  follows: 

Escutcheon. — Party  per  fess,  azure  and  vert.  On  a  chief 
of  the  first,  a  ship  under  full  sail.  On  a  fess,  a  plough,  proper. 
On  a  base  of  the  second,  three  garbs,  or. 

Crest. — An  eagle,  rousant,  proper,  on  a  wreath  of  its  colors. 

Supporters. — Two  horses,  sable,  caparisoned  for  draught, 
rearing,  respectant. 

Motto. — "Virtue,  Liberty  and  Independence." 

The  flag  of  Pennsylvania  is  of  deep  blue,  with  golden  fringe, 
bearing  in  its  centre  the  arms  of  the  Commonwealth,  displayed 
as  above  described,  in  their  proper  heraldic  colors. 


FIRST    NATIONAL    FLAG   OF   THE    UNITED   STATES 


4.  The  First  National  Flag  of  the 
United  States 

This  flag  consisted  of  thirteen  alternate  red  and  white  stripes 
with  thirteen  stars  in  a  circle  on  a  blue  canton  in  the  upper  right- 
hand  corner.*  A  variation  of  this  canton  bore  twelve  stars 
formed  into  a  circle,  with  a  single  star  in  the  centre.  The  flag 
was  adopted  by  resolution  of  the  Continental  Congress  at  Phila- 
delphia, Penna.,  on  June  14,  1777,  and  was  first  used  in  the  en- 
gagement (it  is  claimed,  and  where  a  monument  has  been  erected 
to  commemorate  the  event)  at  Cooch's  Bridge,  below  Wilming- 
ton, Delaware,  September  3,  and  (it  is  known)  at  the  battle  on 
the  Brandywine  in  Chester  County,  Penna.,  September  u,  1777. 

The  facsimile  of  this  Flag  was  presented  to  the  Society  by  James 
Mifflin,  Esq. 


*  The  words,  "upper  right-hand  corner,"  or  "dexter  side,"  are  always 
used  in  the  text  heraldically  and  are  to  be  construed,  as  to  position,  as 
if  the  "field"  of  the  flag  were  reversed  and  placed  in  front  of  the  body  as 
a  shield  would  be  held. 


CONTINENTAL   OR   GRAND    UNION    FLAG 


5.  The  Continental  or  Grand  Union  Flag 

This  flag,  consisting  of  thirteen  alternate  red  and  white 
stripes  (the  same  as  its  immediate  successor,  the  first  national 
flag  of  the  United  States  just  previously  described),  had,  instead 
of  the  union  with  thirteen  stars  in  the  upper  right-hand  corner, 
the  British  Union  "Jack,"  composed  of  the  red  and  white  crosses 
of  St.  George  and  St.  Andrew  on  a  blue  field,  as  the  canton.  The 
flag  was  first  unfurled  at  Cambridge,  Mass.,  January  i,  1776, 
on  the  organization  of  the  new  Continental  army  that  had  suc- 
ceeded the  several  State  battalions  in  active  service  during  the 
previous  year. 

The  American  Congress  had  not,  it  must  be  remembered, 
yet  declared  the  colonies  "free  and  independent  States,"  and 
even  at  this  late  day  the  Americans  proffered  their  loyalty  to 
British  justice,  if  it  were  possible  still  to  obtain  their  rights  and 
liberties.  Hence  the  retention  of  the  British  or  Union  "Jack," 
as  used  on  the  flag  of  the  mother  country. 

The  facsimile  of  this  Flag  was  presented  to  the  Society  by  James 
Mifflin,  Esq. 


AN  APPEAL  TO   HEAVEN 


FLAG  OF  THE   FLOATING   BATTERIES 


6.  The  Flag  of  the  Floating  Batteries 

In  September,  1775,  two  strong  floating  batteries  were 
launched  on  the  Charles  River,  Mass.,  and  in  the  following 
month  opened  fire  on  the  enemy  in  Boston.  Their  ensign  used 
was  a  pine  tree  flag.*  The  six  schooners  first  commissioned  by 
Washington  in  the  same  month  to  cruise  in  Massachusetts  Bay 
and  the  first  vessels  commissioned  soon  afterwards  by  the  Con- 
tinental Congress,  sailed  under  the  same  device — a  green  pine 
tree  in  the  centre  of  a  white  field — with  the  motto:  "Appeal  to 
Heaven,"f  and  the  floating  batteries  of  the  State  of  Pennsyl- 
vania in  the  Delaware  River  also  carried  this  flag — a  green  pine 
tree  in  the  centre  of  a  white  field — in  the  autumn  of  1775,  and 
likewise  during  the  operations  on  that  river  in  the  defence  of  the 
city  of  Philadelphia  in  1777  and  1778. 

The  facsimile  of  this  Flag  was  presented  to  the  Society  by  James 
Mifflin,  Esq. 


*  Colonel  Joseph  Reed,  in  a  letter  from  Cambridge,  Mass.,  to  Colonels 
Glover  and  Moylan,  dated  October  20,  1775,  said,  "Please  to  fix  some  par- 
ticular color  for  a  flag,  and  a  signal,  by  which  our  vessels  may  know  one 
another.  What  do  you  think  of  a  flag  with  a  white  ground,  a  tree  in  the 
middle,  the  motto — 'Appeal  to  Heaven'?  This  is  the  flag  of  our  floating 
batteries." 

t  The  London  Chronicle — an  anti-ministerial  newspaper — in  its  issue 
for  January,  1776,  states  that  an  American  provincial  privateer  had  been 
captured  and  that  its  bunting  flag,  when  in  the  British  Admiralty  office, 
"consisted  of  a  white  field  with  a  green  pine  tree  in  the  middle,  and  upon 
the  opposite  side  the  motto,  'Appeal  to  Heaven'." 


• 


THE   CRESCENT    FLAG 

USED    AT    THE     DEFENSE    OF    FT.    SULLIVAN,    S.C.,    JUNE,    1776 


21 


7.  The  Crescent  Flag  of  Fort  Sullivan,  S.  C. 

The  Crescent  Flag  used  in  the  historic  defence  of  Fort  Sulli- 
van (now  Fort  Moultrie,  on  Sullivan's  Island,  in  Charleston 
Harbor)  against  the  British  in  June  1776,  by  Colonel  William 
Moultrie,  was  the  first  American  flag  used  in  the  South  in  the 
Revolution.  It  consisted  of  a  dark-blue  field  with  a  white 
crescent  in  the  upper  right-hand  (dexter)  corner. 

Colonel,  afterwards  General  Moultrie,  states  in  his  Memoirs 
that  "as  there  was  no  national  flag  at  the  time,  I  was  desired 
by  the  Council  of  Safety  (on  September  13,  1775,  on  taking 
possession  of  Fort  Johnson,  on  James  Island,  in  the  harbor)  to 
have  one  made;  upon  which,  as  the  State  troops  were  clothed 
in  blue  and  the  fort  was  garrisoned  by  the  men  of  the  first  and 
second  regiments  who  wore  a  silver  crescent  on  the  front  of 
their  caps,  I  had  a  large  blue  flag  made  with  a  crescent  in  the 
dexter  corner  to  be  uniform  with  the  troops.  This  was  the  first 
American  flag  displayed  in  the  South." 

It  was  this  flag  that  the  gallant  Sergeant  William  Jasper, 
of  South  Carolina,  in  the  attack  on  Fort  Sullivan,  the  following 
summer,  fastened  up  on  a  sponge-staff  and  replaced  upon  the 
bastion  in  the  midst  of  a  furious  fire,  after  it  had  been  shot  away 
by  the  enemy's  fleet  and  had  fallen  outside  the  parapet  upon 
the  beach.  For  his  heroic  act  Governor  Rutledge,  the  following 
day,  presented  him  with  his  own  sword,  and  thanking  him  in 
the  name  of  his  country,  tendered  him  an  officer's  commission 
which  Jasper  modestly  declined. 


FLAG   CARRIED   BY   CAPTAIN   CONYNGHAM   IN   HIS  CRUISES 


8.  The  Rattlesnake  Flag 

This  famous  flag  consists  of  thirteen  horizontal  alternate  red 
and  blue  stripes — sometimes  also  alternate  red  and  white  stripes 
— bearing  diagonally  across  them  a  rattlesnake  in  a  moving  or 
running  position,  with  the  threatening  motto  above  or  beneath, 
"Don't  tread  on  me." 

The  flag  was  used  by  different  organizations  of  the  Ameri- 
can army  during  the  Revolution,  but  particularly  by  the  vessels 
of  the  American  navy,  as  stated  by  John  Jay  in  a  letter  dated 
July,  1776.  Captain  John  Paul  Jones  was  supposed  to  have  used 
this  special  device,  though  an  English  writer  of  the  period  of 
Jones'  cruise  in  European  waters  (in  1779),  is  quoted  as  say- 
ing, "a  strange  flag  has  lately  appeared  in  our  seas,  having  a 
pine  tree  with  the  portraiture  of  a  rattlesnake  coiled  up  at  its 
roots  and  with  these  daring  words,  'Don't  tread  on  me.' "  This 
flag  would  seem  to  be  almost  the  same  as  that  designed  by  Colonel 
Gadsden,  of  South  Carolina,  in  1776,  for  "the  Commander  in 
Chief  of  the  American  Navy."  [See  No.  9.] 

The  brave  Captain  Gustavus  Conyngham,  whose  memory 
has  been  honored  by  this  Society,  also  carried  the  rattlesnake 
flag  at  the  masthead  of  his  little  vessels,  the  "Surprise"  and  "Re- 
venge," in  his  continued  successful  attacks  on  British  commerce 
in  1777  and  the  following  years  of  the  Revolution. 

The  facsimile  of  this  Flag  was  presented  to  the  Society  by  James 
Mifflin,  Esq. 


. 

* 


DONT  TREAD  ON  ME 


FLAG   OF  THE   CONTINENTAL    NAVY 


9.  The  Flag  of  the  Continental  Navy 

In  December,  1775,  the  Continental  Congress  provided  for 
the  fitting-out  of  five  ships  of  thirty-two  guns,  five  of  twenty-eight 
guns,  and  three  of  twenty-four  guns,  making  thirteen  ships  in  all, 
to  form  a  navy  of  the  United  Colonies ;  but  no  provision  was 
made  for  a  naval  flag. 

John  Jay,  in  a  letter  dated  July,  1776,  states  that  Congress 
had  made  no  order  "concerning  Continental  colors,  and  that  cap- 
tains of  the  armed  vessels  had  followed  their  own  fancies."  He 
names  as  one  device  a  rattlesnake  rearing  its  crest  and  shaking  its 
rattles,  and  having  the  motto,  "Don't  tread  on  me." 

De  Benvouloir,  the  emissary  of  Vergennes,  in  1775,  reports 
to  the  French  minister:  "They  have  given  up  the  English  flag 
and  have  taken  for  their  device  a  rattlesnake  with  thirteen  rat- 
tles." 

The  rattlesnake  was  a  favorite  device  with  the  Colonists,  and 
its  origin  as  an  American  emblem  is  a  curious  feature  of  our 
national  history. 

The  plate  represents  one  of  the  variants  of  this  naval  flag. 


NAVAL   PRIVATEER   FLAG 

USED    BY    CONTINENTAL    AS    WELL    AS    BY    AMERICAN    PRIVATEER    VESSELS 


10.  Naval  Privateer  Flag  Used  During 
the  Revolution 

This  flag  of  thirteen  alternate  yellow  and  black  stripes — 
sometimes  varied  by  thirteen  yellow  and  white  stripes* — was 
used,  according  to  Preble  in  his  "History  of  the  United  States 
Flag,"  by  Continental  as  well  as  by  American  privateer  vessels. 
It  was  also  often,  probably,  a  decoy  flag  which  had  been  used 
by  some  of  the  Continental  cruisers  in  foreign  ports. 


*  "In-  September,  1776,  the  Continental  brig  'Reprisal,'  16  guns,  com- 
manded by  Captain  Lambert  Wickes,  while  lying  at  Martinique,  W.  I., 
bore  a  flag  of  thirteen  stripes,  whose  field  was  yellow  and  white." — Preble. 


FLAG   OF  THE   FIRST   PENNSYLVANIA    (CONTINENTAL) 
LINE   REGIMENT 


11.  The  Flag  of  the  First  Pennsylvania  (Continental) 
Line  Regiment 

This  standard  had  a  deep  green  field  with  a  crimson  square 
in  the  centre,  bearing  on  the  square,  as  a  device,  a  hunter  in  the 
attitude  of  striking  a  lion  enclosed  in  a  net,  with  a  spear.  The 
motto  below  is  "Domari  Nolo"  (I  refuse  to  be  subjugated).  The 
flag,  described  in  a  letter  by  Lieutenant-colonel  Hand  to  James 
Yeates,  of  Lancaster,  Penna.,  dated  Prospect  Hill,  March  8,  1776, 
was  carried  by  the  regiment  through  the  Revolution  in  all  its 
skirmishes  and  battles,  from  Boston,  in  1775,  to  Yorktown,  in 
1781.  It  was  with  this  regiment  with  Wayne  in  Georgia  in  1782, 
and  in  camp  on  James  Island,  S.  C,  in  1783,  when  the  news  of 
peace  reached  there,  and  whence  the  regiment  embarked  for 
Philadelphia  soon  afterward. 

The  original  flag  is  now  in  the  State  Library  at  Harrisburg. 


FLAG   OF  THE   HANOVER  ASSOCIATORS 

OF  LANCASTER  CO.,   PENNA. 


12.  The  Flag  of  the  Hanover  Associators  of  Lancaster 
County,  Pennsylvania 

A  crimson  flag,  bearing  as  a  device  a  rifleman  in  green  hunt- 
ing shirt  and  buckskin  leggings,  standing  on  guard,  with  the 
motto,  "Liberty  or  Death"  underneath  on  a  yellow  scroll. 

The  Hanover  Associators  (or  Volunteers)  originated  at  a 
meeting  on  June  4,  1774,  of  the  inhabitants  of  Hanover,  Lan- 
caster Co.,  Penna.  Resolutions  were  there  adopted,  "That  in 
the  event  of  Great  Britain  attempting  to  force  unjust  laws  upon 
us  by  the  strength  of  arms,  our  cause  we  leave  to  Heaven  and 
our  rifles."  The  flag  of  the  Hanover  Riflemen  was  also  adopted 
by  the  committee  at  the  same  time. 


FLAG   OF 
COL.  JOHN    PROCTOR'S   INDEPENDENT   BATTALION 

WESTMORELAND  COUNTY,   PENNA. 


13.  The  Flag  of  the  Independent  Battalion,  Westmore- 
land County,  Pennsylvania 

The  flag  was  of  crimson  silk  with  the  British  Union  Jack 
in  the  upper  right-hand  corner,  and  is  of  the  greatest  interest 
because  it  is  an  old  English  ensign  altered  for  use  by  American 
patriots.  In  the  centre  of  the  field  is  a  rattlesnake  coiled,  with 
head  erect,  in  the  attitude  of  striking,  and  under  it  the  motto  so 
frequently  used — "Don't  tread  on  me."  The  letters  above  ("J.  P." 
and  "I.  B.  W.  C.  P.")  indicate  "Colonel  John  Procter's  First 
Brigade,  Westmoreland  County,  Pennsylvania." 

The  flag  was  used  by  Colonel  Procter's  regiment  through- 
out the  war  and  was  carried  at  Trenton,  Princeton  and  in  other 
battles.  On  Colonel  Procter's  death  it  passed  to  the  next  senior 
officer,  and  so  on  to  the  last  survivor  with  whose  family  it  re- 
mained. 


ROYAL    (OR    BOURBON)    FLAG   OF    FRANCE 


35 


14.  The  Royal  (or  Bourbon)  Flag  of  France 

A  white  silk  flag,  the  field  semee  (or  sprinkled)  with  fleurs- 
de-lis  of  gold  and  used  by  the  French  allied  forces  in  the  Ameri- 
can Revolution.* 


*  The  correctness  of  the  arrangement  of  the  fleurs-de-lis  on  this  flag 
would  appear,  on  historical  investigation,  to  be  open  to  doubt.  The  royal 
banner  of  France  was  originally,  from  the  reign  of  Louis  VII  (A.  D.  1137- 
1180)  azure  (blue)  semee  of  fleurs-de-lis,  and  so  continued  for  several 
centuries.  Charles  V  (temp.  A.  D.  1365)  reduced  the  number  of  fleurs- 
de-lis  to  three.  The  field  was  also  afterwards  changed  from  blue  to  white, 
and  this  was  the  royal  color,  with  the  three  golden  fleurs-de-lis — an 
heraldic  anomaly — during  the  entire  reign  of  the  Bourbons.  See  Bou- 
tell's  Heraldry. 


BANNER  OF   PULASKI'S   LEGION 
(REVERSE) 

MADE    FOR    AND    PRESENTED    TO    COUNT    PULASKI    BY    THE    MORAVIAN    SISTERS    AT    BETHLEHEM,    PA. 


BANNER  OF   PULASKI'S   LEGION 
(OBVERSE) 

MADE    FOR    AND    PRESENTED    TO    COUNT    PULASKI    BY    THE    MORAVIAN    SISTERS    AT    BETHLEHEM,    PA. 


37 

15.  Count  Pulaski's  Banner 

A  cavalry  guidon  of  double  crimson  silk  with  the  designs 
on  each  side  handsomely  embroidered  in  yellow  silk,  and  the 
letters  shaded  with  green.  On  the  obverse  side  of  the  banner 
appears  the  "all-seeing  Eye"  within  a  circle  of  thirteen  stars 
surrounded  by  the  motto,  "Non  alius  regit"  (No  other  governs). 
On  the  reverse  are  the  letters  "U.  S."  encircled  with  the  motto, 
"Unita  virtus  forcior"  (Union  makes  valor  stronger). 

This  banner  was  made  for  and  presented  to  the  brave  Count 
Pulaski  by  the"  Moravian  sisters  at  Bethlehem,  Penna.,  after  he 
had  raised  and  organized  an  independent  corps  of  sixty-eight 
horse  and  two  hundred  foot  at  Baltimore,  Md.,  in  1778.  Pulaski 
received  the  banner  gratefully  and  bore  it  gallantly  through 
many  battles  until  he  fell  at  Savannah,  Ga.,  in  the  autumn  of 
1779.  The  banner  was  saved  by  his  lieutenant — though  him- 
self sorely  wounded — and  it  eventually  reached  Baltimore  after 
the  close  of  the  war,  where  it  was  used  in  the  procession  that 
welcomed  La  Fayette  to  that  city,  during  his  visit  to  this  country 
in  1824,  and  was  then  deposited,  first  in  Peak's  Museum  and 
afterwards  with  the  Maryland  Historical  Society  (in  1844),  m 
whose  rooms  it  is  still  carefully  preserved. 

But  little  of  its  former  beauty  remains,  the  crimson  silk 
being  now  faded  to  a  dull  brownish  red.  A  deep  green  bullion 
fringe  ornamented  the  edges  of  the  banner  which  was  attached 
to  a  lance  when  borne  in  the  field.  The  size  of  the  original  flag 
is  only  twenty  inches  square. 

The  presentation  of  the  flag  to  Pulaski  and  the  soldier's 
glorious  death,  are  commemorated  by  the  poet  Longfellow  in  his 
stirring  "Hymn  of  the  Moravian  Nuns,"  at  the  consecration  of 
the  banner.* 


*The  word  nun  as  applied  to  the  Moravian  sect  has  a  different  sig- 
nificance from  that  indicated  in  speaking  of  the  female  recluses  of  the 
Roman  Catholic  Church.  In  the  former  case  it  virtually  meant  only  the 
single  women  or  sisters  of  the  Moravian  colonists.  The  poem  of  Long- 
fellow, unfortunately,  contains  several  historical  inaccuracies — possibly 
pardonable  from  the  view  of  a  poetical  license. 


STANDARD   OF   THE   COMMANDER    IN    CHIEF'S  GUARD 


39 

16.  The  Flag  of  the  Commander  in  Chiefs  Guard 

This  flag,  frequently  designated  as  that  of  "Washington's 
Life  Guard"  (which  term  was  resolved  by  Congress  on  April 
15,  1777,  to  be  a  misnomer),  originally  consisted  of  white  silk 
on  which  the  following  device  was  painted:  One  of  the  Guard 
was  represented  holding  a  caparisoned  horse  and  in  the  act  of 
receiving  a  banner  or  pennon  from  the  Genius  of  Liberty,  who 
was  personified  as  a  woman  leaning  upon  the  Union  shield,  near 
which  is  the  American  eagle.  The  figures  stood  upon  a  green 
ground  and  overhead  on  a  ribbon  was  the  motto  of  the  corps, 
"Conquer  or  Die."  The  figure  of  the  Guard  was  in  the  uniform 
adopted  for  the  corps,  a  blue  coat  with  white  facings,  white 
waistcoat  and  breeches,  black  half-gaiters,  a  cocked  hat  with  a 
blue  and  white  feather,  and  sword  and  cross  belt.  The  female 
figure  was  robed  in  light  blue. 

The  original  flag  was  owned  by  Mr.  George  Washington 
Parke  Custis,  the  adopted  son  of  General  Washington,  and  was 
deposited  by  Mr.  Custis  in  the  Museum  at  Alexandria,  Va.,  with 
many  other  valuable  relics,  including  British  flags  captured  at 
Trenton  and  at  Yorktown,  and  one  that  belonged  to  Morgan's 
Rifle  Corps.  The  entire  collection  was  accidentally  destroyed 
by  fire  at  the  burning  of  the  museum  several  years  after  the 
close  of  the  Civil  War.* 

The  Guard  of  the  Commander  in  Chief  was  a  distinct  corps 
of  superior  men  attached  to  his  person,  but  never  for  this  reason 
specially  spared  in  battle.  It  was  organized  in  1776,  soon  after 
the  siege  of  Boston  and  while  the  American  army  was  encamped 
on  Manhattan  Island,  near  New  York  City.  It  consisted  of 
a  battalion  of  one  hundred  and  eighty  men  under  the  command 
of  an  officer  with  the  rank  of  Captain  Commandant;  care  being 
always  taken  to  have  all  the  States,  from  which  the  Continental 
army  was  supplied  with  troops,  represented  in  the  corps. 


*  An  accurate  description  of  the  flag  given  recently  by  an  aged  resi- 
dent of  Alexandria,  Va.,  who  had  often  seen  it,  corresponds  exactly  to 
that  given  by  Lossing  in  his  "Field  Book  of  the  Revolution."  The  flag 
was  about  two  feet  in  length. 


40 

During  the  winter  of  1779-80,  however,  when  the  American 
army  under  Washington  was  cantoned  at  Morristown,  N.  J., 
in  close  proximity  to  the  enemy,  the  Guard  was  increased  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  It  was  reduced  to  its  original  number 
in  the  following  spring,  and  early  in  1783,  the  last  year  of  its 
service,  was  again  reduced  to  only  sixty-four  non-commissioned 
officers  and  privates,  and  under  its  new  and  final  reorganization 
(on  June  16,  1783),  it  consisted  of  but  thirty-eight  rank  and  file, 
twelve  of  whom  were  mounted.*  The  Guard  was  armed  with 
muskets  and  occasionally  carried  side  arms. 

The  organization  was  finally  disbanded  and  mustered  out 
of  service  on  Constitution  Island,  opposite  West  Point,  N.  Y., 
December  23,  1783. 


*  See  Journal  of  Congress,  October  6,  1783.  Without  doubt,  the  flag 
of  the  corps  was  used  exclusively  by  the  latter  body,  which  escorted  the 
baggage- wagons  containing  the  personal  effects  of  General  Washington 
to  Mount  Vernon,  under  orders  of  November  9,  1/83. 


(***} 


BANNER  OF  THE  WASHINGTON  ARMS 


41 

17.  Banner  Containing  the  Washington  Arms 

The  arms  of  the  Washington  family  may  be  heraldically 
described  as  follows: 

Argent. — Two  bars  gules,  in  chief  three  mullets  of  the  second. 

Crest. — An  Eagle  issuant,  wings  endorsed,  sable,  out  of  a 
ducal  coronet  or. 

Motto. — Vi'rtus  sola  nobilitas  (Virtue  the  only  nobility). 

These  arms  (of  red  stripes  or  bars  and  stars  of  the  same 
color,  on  a  white  or  silver  shield)  were  used,  not  only  by 
General  Washington,  but  by  preceding  successive  generations 
of  the  Washington  family  in  both  England  and  America,  and 
were,  without  doubt,  authentic;  the  family  having  been  distin- 
guished and  frequently  mentioned  in  the  local  histories  of  the 
mother  country.  The  same  arms  appear  also  in  carvings  in  both 
the  manor  house,  which  still  exists,  and  the  ancient  parish  church 
at  Sulgrave,  Northamptonshire,  England.* 


*  That  General  Washington — it  may  be  added,  however,  in  explana- 
tion of  his  use  of  family  arms — was  not  a  blinded  believer  in  heraldic 
coats  of  arms  as  a  mere  evidence  of  aristocratic  lineage,  and  for  this 
sole  reason  retained  their  use,  but  on  the  contrary  regarded  and  preserved 
them  as  a  valuable  historical  adjunct  to  the  record  of  a  distinguished 
family,  as  they  are  properly  so  regarded  by  many  others  at  this  day,  is 
evidenced  by  a  letter  written  by  him  in  1788  to  a  Mr.  Barton  on  the  sub- 
ject, five  years  after  the  formation  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  by 
the  officers  of  the  American  army. 

"It  is  far  from  my  design,"  he  writes,  "to  intimate  an  opinion  that 
heraldry,  coat-armour,  etc.,  might  not  be  rendered  conducive  to  public 
and  private  uses  with  us,  or  that  they  can  have  any  tendency  unfriendly 
to  the  purest  spirit  of  republicanism.  *  *  *  While  a  certain  portion 
of  the  community,  probably  from  turbulent  or  sinister  views,  are  clamor- 
ously endeavoring  to  propagate  an  idea  that  those  whom  they  wish  in- 
vidiously to  designate  by  the  name  of  'the  well-born',  are  meditating  to 
distinguish  themselves  from  their  compatriots  and  to  wrest  the  dearest 
privileges  from  the  bulk  of  the  people,  I  think  it  impolitic  to  agitate  any 
subject  that  may  tend  to  promote  these  feelings.  *  *  * 

"I  make  these  observations  with  the  greater  freedom,  because  I  have 
once  been  a  witness  to  what  I  conceived  to  have  been  a  most  unreason- 
able prejudice  against  any  innocent  institution — I  mean  the  Society  of 
the  Cincinnati.  I  was  conscious  that  my  own  proceedings  on  the  sub- 
ject were  immaculate.  I  was  also  convinced  that  the  members,  actuated 
by  motives  of  sensibility,  charity  and  patriotism,  were  doing  a  laudable 
thing  in  erecting  that  memorial  of  their  common  services,  sufferings  and 
friendships." 

See  account  of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati,  by  Alexander  Johnston, 
in  Memoirs  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Pennsylvania,  Vol.  VI.,  Phila., 
1858. 


STANDARD  OF  THE  FIRST  TROOP  PHILADELPHIA  CITY  CAVALRY 
(PHILADELPHIA  TROOP  OF  LIGHT  HORSE) 


43 

18.  Flag  of  the  First  Troop,  Philadelphia 
City  Cavalry 

This  flag  is  of  yellow  silk,  with  silver  fringe,  and  bears  in 
its  corner  a  canton  of  thirteen  alternate  blue  and  silver  stripes. 
This  canton  is  the  earliest  known  instance  of  the  thirteen  stripes 
being  used  upon  an  American  banner.  In  the  centre  of  the  flag 
is  a  blue  shield  bearing  a  golden  knot  from  which  radiate  thir- 
teen golden  scrolls  like  the  ends  of  as  many  strips  of  ribbon; 
this  is  a  very  early  symbol  of  the  idea  expressed  by  the  motto: 
"E  pluribus  unum." 

The  head  of  a  bay  horse  bearing  a  white  star  on  his  fore- 
head appears  as  a  crest,  while  as  supporters  we  find  "a  Conti- 
nental masquerading  as  an  Indian,"  holding  a  golden  staff  sur- 
mounted by  a  liberty  cap,  and  an  angel  with  a  staff  in  one  hand 
and  a  golden  trumpet  in  the  other.  These  figures  symbolize 
liberty  and  fame.  Beneath,  on  a  ribbon,  is  the  motto,  obviously 
referring  to  the  supporters :  "For  these  we  strive,"  and  over  the 
crest  appears  the  cipher  letters  "L.  H." 

The  original  of  this  flag  was  presented  to  the  Philadelphia 
Troop  of  Light  Horse,  now  known  as  the  First  Troop,  Philadel- 
phia City  Cavalry,  by  Captain  Abraham  Markoe  in  1775,  and 
was  carried  by  the  Troop  at  Trenton,  Princeton,  the  Brandywine 
and  Germantown. 

Captain  Markoe  resigned  his  commission  late  in  1775,  an 
edict  of  Christian  VIII,  King  of  Denmark,  having  forbidden  his 
subjects  to  engage  in  war  against  Great  Britain  under  penalty 
of  the  confiscation  of  their  property. 

The  flag  is  beautifully  made  and  richly  mounted,  and  is  now 
carefully  preserved  by  the  First  City  Troop  in  its  armory  in 
Philadelphia,  it  having  been  placed  between  sheets  of  glass  and 
fitted  into  a  specially  constructed  frame. 

A  short  while  ago  the  original  bills  for  designing  and  paint- 
ing the  flag,  were  discovered  by  a  descendant  of  Captain  Mar- 
koe, and  they  are  now  to  be  found  safely  kept  in  the  case  that 
protects  the  flag  from  fire  and  decay. 

The    facsimile   of   this   Standard   was   presented   to   the   Society   by 
Horace  Magee,  Esq. 


INSIGNIA   BANNER 

USED    FOR    INTERIOR    DECORATION 


WASHINGTON    BANNER 

USED    FOR    INTERIOR    DECORATION 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 

Los  Angeles 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


2  6  1929 


FormL9-32m-8,'58(5876s4)444 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


AA    000793393    0 


3  1158  01331  752- 


202.4 
F38s 


